LittleBigPlanet Scores Big With G.A.N.G. Award Noms

LittleBigPlanet collected the most nominations -- eight nods total -- for the Game Audio Network Guild's annual awards for outstanding achievements in video game sound and music. Dead Space, which received critical acclaim for its haunting audio effects, also made a strong showing with four nominations, snagging a key finalist spot along with LittleBigPlanet, Dark Sector, Fable II, Gears of War 2 and Star Wars: The Force Unleashed for the Audio of the Year prize. The G.A.N.G. awards, set to announce winners March 26th during the Game Developers Conference, recognize outstanding achievements in the field of video game audio. Other categories including Music of the Year, Sound Design of the Year and Best Interactive Score have each chosen six nominees. "What an amazing time for game audio," says G.A.N.G founder and chairman/CEO Tommy Tallarico. "Each year it gets more difficult for the 50 person G.A.N.G. Advisory Board to chose the final nominees from the hundreds of amazing entries" G.A.N.G. President Paul Lipson says the nominees were selected based on input from the Guild's global advisory board. "The level of talent around the world is extremely high, and being voted as a final nominee is a remarkable accomplishment," says Lipson. The full alphabetical list of finalists by category is as follows: Audio of the Year Dark Sector Dead Space Fable II Gears of War 2 LittleBigPlanet Star Wars: The Force Unleashed Music of the Year Afrika Dead Space Fable II LittleBigPlanet Lord of the Rings: Mines of Moria World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King Sound Design Of The Year Dead Space LittleBigPlanet Metal Gear Solid 4 Need For Speed: Undercover Spore Best Soundtrack Album Afrika Fable II Halo Trilogy - The Complete Original Soundtracks Video Games Live: Volume One World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King Best Interactive Score Crysis: Warhead Left 4 Dead LittleBigPlanet PixelJunk Eden Spore Star Wars: The Force Unleashed Best Handheld Audio God of War: Chains of Olympus Monster Hunter 2 Rolando Secret Agent Clank WipEout Pulse Best Audio - Other Disney’s Pixie Hollow Eternity's Child Hidden Expedition: Amazon The Secret Saturdays: Tale of the Cryptids Watchman motion comic Best Cinematic/Cut Scene Audio Gears of War 2 Left 4 Dead Star Wars: The Force Unleashed Team Fortress 2 World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King Best Dialogue Dark Sector Grand Theft Auto IV LittleBigPlanet Need For Speed: Undercover Star Wars: The Force Unleashed Best Original Instrumental "Healed Land" - Prince of Persia "Main Theme" – Afrika "Oscar Night" - You're In The Movies "The Gardens" – LittleBigPlanet "The Heist" - Pictureka Museum Mayhem Best Original Vocal - Choral "Hope Runs Deep" - Gears of War 2 "Hymn for King Conan" - Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures "Khazad Düm" - LOTR: Mines of Moria "Main Theme" - LittleBigPlanet "Main Title" - World of Warcraft : Wrath of the Lich King "Menu Theme" - Prince of Persia Best Original Vocal - Pop "Night time Journey" - Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventure "On My Own" – Need For Speed: Undercover "Out of Darkness" - Devil May Cry 4 "Shorel'Aran" - World of Warcraft: Fury of the Sunwell "Still Alive" - Mirror's Edge Best Use Of Licensed Music Fallout 3 Grand Theft Auto IV Guitar Hero World Tour LittleBigPlanet Rock Band 2 Best Game Audio Article, Publication or Broadcast “Making Music Interactive: Elaboration of the Feature Set in Wwise” – Music4Games.net “The Complete Guide to Game Audio, 2nd Edition” - Thomson/Cengage Publishing “The Music of Dead Space: Artistic Design and Technical Implementation” – Music4Games.net “The Music System of Hellgate: London” – Music4Games.net “The Power of the Sung Word” – Game Developer Magazine “Tommy Tallarico Tells All” - Electronic Musician Magazine Best Use Of Multi-Channel Surround In A Game Call of Duty: World at War Crysis: Warhead Dead Space Fallout 3 Gears of War 2 Left 4 Dead Also to be presented are the Rookie of the Year award, the Lifetime Achievement Award, the G.A.N.G. Recognition Awards, Student/Apprentice competition winners and the G.A.N.G. Distinguished Service Awards, although specific nominees for these categories are not listed.